hope

GABA and tryptophan combo provide immediate and noticeable relief for tremors and cervical dystonia in just 7 days

April 17, 2026 By Trudy Scott 13 Comments

I recently discovered your work and felt a sense of hope regarding an amino acid trial. I was diagnosed with Cervical Dystonia and Essential Tremor 15 years ago. I have tried Botox injections and various prescriptions (Bacolfen, Propranolol, Trihexyphenidyl, Gabapentin), with no success. Because alcohol is the only thing that currently provides relief for my spasms and head tremor, I’ve developed a habit of 2–3 glasses of wine nightly.

My neurologist recently suggested Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), but I want to exhaust all natural options first.

After listening to some of your podcasts, I am ready to try a nutritional approach. I purchased your book today and am eager to start with GABA and potentially Tryptophan, but I need guidance on where to begin safely. I look forward to learning from you and your community.

Lisa shared this recently on a GABA blog post on the site. I responded saying how glad I am that she has found my site and work, and now has my book, “The Antianxiety Food Solution”. I also shared that if alcohol provides relief for her neck spasms and head tremors it’s a good clue that low GABA is an issue. It’s one of a number of possible issues including low serotonin, as she concluded, and these are the amino acids I would recommend starting with, ideally one at a time.

A week later she thanked me for my response and shared her initial wonderful results:

I began with a GABA trial and noticed subtle relief, but after adding 500 mg of L-Tryptophan a few days later, all I can say is WOW. The combination provided immediate, noticeable relief for my tremors. For the first time, I am truly hopeful about managing these dystonic tremors.

Read on to learn more about pyroluria and dystonia connection; tryptophan and tremors; my feedback about Lisa finding her optimal dose of amino acids and ideally using one amino acid at a time; more on alcohol and low thiamine, and GABA for healing a leaky gut; and additional resources if you need guidance using amino acids like GABA and tryptophan.

Pyroluria and dystonia connection

In my initial response to Lisa, I had also encouraged her to search the blog for dystonia and essential tremor as I have blogged about both. With regards to dystonia and pyroluria, I’ve had a number of wonderful success stories, even though mainstream sites like Mayo Clinic will tell you: “There is no cure for cervical dystonia. The disorder sometimes resolves without treatment, but sustained remissions are uncommon.”.

Lisa searched the blog and is very motivated despite her lack of success with Botox and various medications:

While I hadn’t researched pyroluria before, I completed your questionnaire and scored very high.

My next steps are to implement your pyroluria protocol, gradually find my optimal amino acid dosages, and pursue genetic testing.

Your book and expertise have been a turning point for me. I can’t thank you enough for opening this door to healing. I am truly humbled by your guidance.

I’m guessing she found both of these blogs – they are well worth a read:

There is an entire chapter on pyroluria in my book and she’ll be using zinc and vitamin B6 and other key nutrients like a B complex and evening primrose oil, all of which help pyroluria, help ease dystonia symptoms and help with neurotransmitter production.

I’m not surprised she has hope for the first time in 15 years! I also never get tired of feedback like this and look forward to sharing her ongoing improvements. I really do hope she shares all this with her neurologist too.

Finding her optimal dose of amino acids

I’m really glad to hear Lisa has grasped this key aspect of using amino acids such as GABA and tryptophan (and others like DPA for pain relief, another one she may benefit from in the future): finding her optimal dose.

We always start low during the initial one-off trial, track the response and then slowly but surely increase, continuing to track improvements. And drop back to a previous dose if there is an adverse effect.

I see too many folks give up too soon when they simply try one dose and then stop, or try only one product and stop or try tryptophan and stop when it doesn’t help (some folks do better on 5-HTP so both may be worth trialing). The same logic applies with GABA and theanine and sometimes a combination is better than one or the other.

Lisa was fortunate in finding an initial combination that works for her very quickly, although she does plan to optimize further. For others it can take longer with a number of permutations. But once you find your unique protocol, immediate and noticeable relief is what we expect.

My recommendation is to use one amino acid at a time

I will add that my advice is to trial one amino acid at a time and find the optimal dose and then move on to the next amino acid – it makes it so much easier to know which amino acid is helping. Lisa didn’t do this so I just want to point this out. Going forwards, it’ll be better if she just adjusts one at a time.

I did also mention the Serotonin QuickStart Program and GABA QuickStart Homestudy Program in case she hits a wall and needs additional help fine-tuning (more on these programs below).

Alcohol and low thiamine, and GABA for healing a leaky gut

Because of Lisa’s daily wine intake, it would also be prudent to consider and address low levels of thiamine, a common deficiency with excessive alcohol consumption. I write more about classic signs of thiamine deficiency here. Assessing for and addressing other possible nutritional deficiencies would be key too, because of leaky gut caused by alcohol intake.

The good news is that both GABA and tryptophan (and glutamine too) helps to heal leaky gut and also help break the addictive aspect of wine and other alcoholic beverages so it’s easier to quit. Feel free to search the blog for additional information on these topics.

Additional resources when you are new to using tryptophan or GABA and other amino acids as supplements

We use the symptoms questionnaire to figure out if low serotonin or low GABA or other neurotransmitter imbalances may be an issue for you.

If you suspect low levels of any of the neurotransmitters and do not yet have my book, The Antianxiety Food Solution – How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood, and End Cravings. I highly recommend getting it and reading it before jumping in and using amino acids on your own so you are knowledgeable. And be sure to share it with the practitioner/health team you or your loved one is working with.

There is an entire chapter on the amino acids and they are discussed throughout the book in the sections on gut health, gluten, blood sugar control (this is covered in an entire chapter too), sugar cravings, anxiety and mood issues. The importance of quality animal protein and healthy fats is also covered.

The book doesn’t include product names (per the publisher’s request) so this blog, The Antianxiety Food Solution Amino Acid and Pyroluria Supplements, lists the amino acids that I use with my individual clients and those in my group programs.

If, after reading this blog and my book, you don’t feel comfortable figuring things out on your own (i.e. doing the symptoms questionnaire and respective amino acids trials), a good place to get help is the GABA QuickStart Program (if you have low GABA symptoms). This is a paid online/virtual group program where you get my guidance and community support. Another option is the budget-friendly GABA QuickStart Homestudy Program.

If you need serotonin support, the Serotonin QuickStart Program is a good place to get help. This is also a paid online/virtual group program where you get my guidance on using tryptophan and 5-HTP safely, and community support during 5 LIVE Q&A calls. You can sign up to be notified when the next live launch of this program is happening.

If you are a practitioner, join us in The Balancing Neurotransmitters: the Fundamentals program. This is also a paid online/virtual program with an opportunity to interact with me and other practitioners who are also using the amino acids.

Wrapping up and your feedback

Thanks to Lisa for asking these questions and sharing her feedback.

Now I’d love to hear from you – have you had success using GABA or tryptophan for tremors or cervical dystonia (or other types of dystonia)?

What about the pyroluria protocol for cervical dystonia (or other types of dystonia)?

Feel free to post your questions below.

The psychological trauma of coronavirus – nutritional support for doctors, nurses and their loved ones

April 3, 2020 By Trudy Scott 13 Comments

If you are a nurse or doctor or providing support in any capacity in hospitals and other essential services during this coronavirus pandemic you need nutritional support. You may be feeling on edge and anxious, worried about the future, concerned and angry about the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), fearful for your safety and terrified about bringing the virus back to your family, exhausted and yet not able to sleep, feeling overly emotional and weepy about your patients (and decisions you are making or you anticipate having to make), and starting to have nightmares.

I’m not downplaying the enormity of the stress and trauma you are already facing and will continue to face, but we must not forget that nutrients (and nature and exercise) have a role to play in PTSD and trauma. They help to make you more resilient and mitigate some of the effects of trauma, and they also support healing and recovery.

When you feel calmer and you sleep better, you indirectly support your immune function too. There is also research that directly supports the role that GABA plays in improving immune function (more on this below).

B-complex and a multi-vitamin for everyone

If this is all that can be managed, a B-complex and a good multi-vitamin would be my first choice for everyone. I wrote this blog during Hurricane Harvey: Nutrition solutions for psychological stress after a natural disaster. It’s equally applicable now. Simply replace “after a natural disaster” with “during the coronavirus pandemic.”

My colleagues Bonnie Kaplin and Julia Rucklidge published this paper in 2015: A randomised trial of nutrient supplements to minimise psychological stress after a natural disaster. They found that folks traumatised after New Zealand earthquakes and floods in southern Alberta, Canada, showed significantly greater improvement in stress and anxiety when consuming a B-Complex and/or broad-spectrum mineral/vitamin formula.

In a newly published article in the Calgary Herald, Dr. Kaplan explains how these nutrients act as co-factors for making serotonin, GABA and dopamine and that “we should all consider a B-complex and/or a broad-spectrum nutrient formula on a daily basis to strengthen our mental resilience.”

My second recommendation is GABA and/or theanine

Supporting low levels of GABA, the calming neurotransmitter, eases your anxiety, improves your sleep and supports your immunity. When you feel calmer and you sleep better, you indirectly support your immune function too:

the physiological response to psychological stressors can dramatically impact the functioning of the immune system (from this paper)

We also have research that directly supports the role that GABA plays when it comes to improving immune function.

We want you to stay emotionally and physically strong and so does your family!

I write more about this here: GABA and theanine for easing anxiety, improving sleep and supporting immunity. I share advice if you’re currently using GABA/theanine or have used it in the past, and a summary if you’re new to low GABA anxiety symptoms and using GABA/theanine.

Melatonin and serotonin support

I have my clients use a sublingual melatonin for going to sleep and a timed-release melatonin for staying asleep, and it’s another recommendation I’m making.

Melatonin improves sleep, helps ease anxiety and fear and may help with PTSD:

A double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial concludes that “melatonin may be an effective treatment for shift work nurses with difficulty falling asleep.”
Low levels of melatonin are common in military-related PTSD.
Melatonin modulates fear and “may serve as an agent for the treatment of PTSD”.

This in press and pre-proof paper reports on melatonin: COVID-19: Melatonin as a potential adjuvant treatment:

Melatonin, a well-known anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative molecule, is protective against ALI/ARDS [acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome] caused by viral and other pathogens. Melatonin is effective in critical care patients by reducing vessel permeability, anxiety, sedation use, and improving sleeping quality, which might also be beneficial for better clinical outcomes for COVID-19 patients. Notably, melatonin has a high safety profile.

This is very promising for offering added protection if you are working on the front-line and for your patients too.

Serotonin is the precursor to melatonin and the amino acid tryptophan is one of the raw materials for making serotonin. I would also include tryptophan or 5-HTP for supporting serotonin levels to help with the worry and anxiety in the head, lying awake ruminating, feelings of fear, anger, depression, worry and negative thinking.

Try to get into nature for the pure joy of it and to lower your cortisol

Do your absolute best to try and get some nature. I share some simple options in this blog:

Get out into nature at least one day a week i.e. do some “forest bathing”
Take a short detour and drive to work via a tree-lined street
Look at some images of nature: sit and stare at a giant poster or even watch a show on National Geographic

Beyond the pure joy of spending time in nature, there is research supporting all of the above in playing a role in reducing anxiety, feeling more positive and calm, reducing cortisol levels and helping with recovery from stressful situations.

Do this workout a few times a week for mood support

Here is a great workout from Dr. Zach Bush, MD. He recommends doing it 3 x day and starting with 10 reps of each of the 4 exercises and building up to 20 reps of each one:

The Four Minute Workout is a new concept of exercise that revolves around the body’s ability to use Nitric Oxide for muscle growth. This is an efficient anaerobic workout that can be done multiple times per day. The more frequently you do it, the better your results.

In this blog, I write how signals from our large leg muscles alter our brain and nervous system and improve mood.

If it’s your loved-one on the front-lines be sure to take care of yourself too

All of this nutritional support is also important if you are the mother or husband or wife or sister or brother etc. who is anxious and worrying about your loved one. You need to be strong for them so be sure to take care of you too.

Even if you are not working on the front-line or don’t know anyone doing so, if you are experiencing any of the above emotions, you need nutritional support too.

The New York Times article

It was reading this very somber and eye-opening article in the New York Times that promoted me to write this blog: The Psychological Trauma That Awaits Our Doctors and Nurses

The angst that clinicians may experience when asked to withdraw ventilators for reasons not related to the welfare of their patients should not be underestimated,” warn the authors of the article in The New England Journal of Medicine.“It may lead to debilitating and disabling distress.

We look at veterans and thank them for their service, never being able to fully comprehend what they’ve been through. The same may soon be true of some of our health care professionals. We may think we know. But we don’t.

No-one should have to make these choices and our hearts break for you and the families who are being impacted.

Louisiana article conveys the gravity of the situation like no other

Unfortunately it is happening already. This article conveys the gravity of the situation like no other and I’ve been pouring through everything – an account from a respiratory therapist in a Louisiana hospital (published two weeks ago.) We have been hearing similar stories from Italy for over a month now. Be warned – it’s horrifying!

It does include this statement… “The medical details in this story were vetted by an infectious disease doctor, a cardiologist and an internist at three different hospitals. All of the information about ARDS, the condition that the respiratory therapist describes, was fact-checked against peer-reviewed articles and UpToDate, a resource for physicians to check current standards in care, clinical features, and expected complications and outcomes.”

Because but I’m not familiar with this publication, I also checked with colleagues who are doctors and this is medically accurate.

While we don’t want to create panic I want to understand what doctors and nurses are facing so I can help. I do also believe we all deserve to know the facts, so we can truly support our doctors and nurses, and so we take this very seriously and stay home!

My biggest wish

It is my biggest wish that we can prevent much of this heart-ache and trauma going forwards, by preventing the spread of this virus and preventing the need for ventilators by helping sick individuals recover more quickly or prevent folks getting sick in the first place.

I do know of many incredible functional medicine practitioners who are creating task forces and working behind the scenes putting together proposals to present to governors, governments and mainstream medicine.

The products I mention and eating real whole food

The products I recommend to my clients are Designs for Health B Supreme and Designs for Health Twice Daily Multi.

You can find the GABA, theanine, tryptophan and 5-HTP on the supplements blog here.

If you are working in a hospital or medical setting or essential services

Please reach out if you need help with any of this – how to implement these recommendation or where to get the products
If you’re already doing this please share so we can encourage others to support themselves

And if your loved ones or friends in healthcare need support

Please share this blog with them and help them get access to these nutrients
I also encourage you to read my book – The Antianxiety Food Solution – How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood, and End Cravings – and give them the highlights about eating real whole food, quality animal protein, organic veggies and fruits, fermented foods, healthy fats, avoiding caffeine and sugar, eating for blood sugar control etc.
Please share if you know ways we can get this information (and nutrients) into the hands of more of our front-line workers
My focus is nutrition and nutrients but they also need someone to talk to so give them a call and be a listening ear. Also, help them find an online therapy service if they feel they need it. It’s encouraging to see more and more of this being made available.

One final comment – these are the bare essentials. In an ideal world, with more time, it would be best to work with a functional medicine practitioner and nutritionist and figure out your exact nutritional needs.

Hurricane Harvey: stories of heroes, hope, inspiration and healing

September 1, 2017 By Trudy Scott Leave a Comment

Today’s blog is about heroes, hope, inspiration and healing for all those affected by Hurricane Harvey. One of the many heroes is McCall McPherson, a new friend, who I met in person for the first time at a nutrition business event just last month. McCall solves complex thyroid issues, and practices functional medicine and integrative psychiatry in Austin, Texas.

Here is a snippet from the video on KXAN where she shares her inspiration and plans to use social media to coordinate thousands of flood rescues:

When McCall McPherson and her husband Casey heard about all the flooding in Houston, they wanted to help. Casey decided he and a friend would drive a boat down south and try to rescue stranded Hurricane Harvey survivors. But McCall wondered how she could help while still caring for her two toddlers at home.

“I created a way to connect rescuers to people in need because my husband was about to be a rescuer and I had no idea where to send him,” said McCall.

McCall created an interactive map online for flood victims to pin their location if they needed help. She then linked that map to a Facebook page to communicate with people about the rescues, getting locations and phone numbers. “We’re in real-time, so it’s [posts like] ‘family holding three babies above their head, water up to neck.’ And you’re telling [rescuers] get there, get there, get there,” explains McCall.

A few friends and thousands of strangers started acting as dispatchers, connecting victims with rescuers, including the Coast Guard and self-proclaimed “Cajun Navy.” The page that started with McCall and two other people, now has more than 2,300 members.

You can read the full story and watch the inspiring video clip on the KXAN site and find the page #Harvey911 here.

It’s called Houston Area Harvey Rescue Group: for victims and boat rescuers, and this story of hope and helping is so special to me because I’m honored to be a very small part of it. I am one of those “dispatchers” connecting victims with rescuers and I’ve been doing it from afar i.e. from Sydney, Australia. I was inspired to jump in and help as soon as McCall started it, wanting to be of service but not knowing how I could help from so far away. As soon as I saw all the desperate cries for help on the social media sites of the local TV stations I knew I could try and help connect them with the volunteer rescue teams McCall and the volunteers were coordinating. Myself and a colleague in the UK, Kiran Ram, who works with women helping them balance their hormones, worked the “night shift” helping as best we could.

These are a few of the kinds of cries for help we responded to: a brother’s request for help for his sister who was under water with her kids; a son desperate to rescue his disabled papa; a mother’s plea for help for her family in above-knee-deep-water – a 2-month old, a 3 year old, a 6 year old, a 9 year old, husband and father in law; an elderly couple whose phone was dying, had no water and were running out of food. And what joy and relief to then hear from these complete strangers that their loved ones were safe!

A volunteer dispatcher, Monica (and someone I feel I know like a dear friend even though we have never met), shares this in the group:

Part of our work is that moment in being able to track down and inform a loved one or other concerned citizen that the person(s) they are worried about are safe. The rescues are obviously the cake. But that moment of “YAY” exchanged on the other end of the mission between volunteers who never gave up and family and friends who never gave up on another person(s) — that’s the most delicious icing on the cake.

Working with all these amazing volunteers who just give-give-give, has been an amazing experience. It shows we can all do something no matter where we are!

I’d like to share two more inspiring stories about heroes from Hurricane Harvey.

Jim McIngvale, ‘Mattress Mack’ on A More Perfect Union

In this CBS series called A More Perfect Union they highlight examples of people coming together to show that what unites us is far greater than what divides us. One such person is Jim McIngvale:

Countless people have demonstrated extraordinary acts of humanity to help flood victims. Already a local hero, Jim McIngvale – known as Mattress Mack – has become a national symbol of hope in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

On Sunday night he welcomed hundreds of people looking for refuge into his Gallery Furniture Stores. He also sent out trucks into the flood looking for those in need of safe passage

“I’m part capitalist and part social worker and this is what I like to do,” he said.

You can read the entire story and watch the heartfelt and hope-inspiring video here

Catalina offering warm soup to neighbors as shown on ABC13 Houston

And finally, Catalina and her family (and countless others like this) are heroes for their kindness to neighbors in trouble. Her father says: “what do you do when there’s nothing you can do, but you can’t do nothing? You do what you can” – and you offer warm soup to your neighbors. ABC13 Houston says: “Thank you to 5-year-old Catalina and her family for being #HoustonStrong and offering hot soup to neighbors.” You can watch the heart-warming and tummy-warming video here

I’d like to end with a part of this message that McCall posted in the #Harvey911 rescue group a few days ago:

I did a TEDx talk this year around the concept of us changing the world not by our professions, but by our ability to remain tethered to the humanity of every person we encounter. After spending 60 some hours in rescue efforts connecting strangers, some completely around to globe, you have absolutely solidified this concept in my mind. We are changing the city of Houston by being tethered to this despite exhausted, sleep deprivation, pain, hunger, stress, and hopelessness, to the humanity of those people standing in waist high water, of women who have been trapped on their roof with their babies, elderly in nursing homes, and parents literally holding their children above rising water.

This is so true but this rescue effort is just the start, next is the healing and rebuilding. McCall is now gathering a group of volunteers and they are in the early stages of planning a benefit concert for the Harvey victims. The actual benefit will take place on September 23rd in Austin, Texas. I’ll share details here as soon as I have more information about the event. The band Alpha Rev, which Casey is a part of, will be performing.

Thank you McCall McPherson for your vision, courage and inspiration! I am proud to call you my friend! Thank you Casey and all of you rescuers in the boats! And thank you to everyone involved in this crowd-sourced rescue group and everyone else helping all these families who are in need – people like Jim McIngvale and Catalina and her family! People offering meals, places to stay, helping with clean-up and doing their thing to help.

And to every single person impacted by Hurricane Harvey – we’ve got you and you will get through this! As McCall likes to say: #StrengthInNeighbors. It’s a beautiful thing!

I’ll be back with more on the fundraiser and more on how we can help both the rescuers and those who have been rescued with nutritional support for the lack of sleep, and the anxiety, fear, worry and trauma they have all been exposed to.

Please share your ideas of how we can help these communities. And if you are in one of the affected communities let us know how we can help.

If you have an inspiring story please share it too. We need all the hope and inspiration we can get right now!

UPDATE September 9^th 2017: Hurricane Harvey Benefit, September 23^rd, 2017, Austin, TX

I’d like to share this wonderful message from McCall McPherson, a huge hero of the Harvey rescues:

When tragedy strikes oftentimes we can feel helpless, leading to inaction. More than anything, this crowdsourced rescue campaign #StrengthInNeightbors has shown me that regular people, despite feeling helpless, can come together and make an enormous impact.

After our efforts rescued thousands, we want to do more and we want you to do it with us. Join us, Alpha Rev, The Wind and The Wave and Suzanna Choffel on Sept 23 at Parlor & Yard to support #Harvey victims long into the future. We have created a unique way to facilitate lasting help and lifelong community by having families and businesses sponsor victims. This means they commit to donating a set amount of funds each month for a year, offering people stability in a time of utter chaos. This also offers a platform to build community and relationships with one another.

Please join us and see what a difference you can truly make in the lives of others, and discover what #StrengthInNeighbors really means.

You can purchase your ticket here.